Outsourcing your business process - Russia in line

With the Indian outsourcing business processes market having taken the cake with $10 billion deals (85% of the market), other countries are waking up to the reality that outsourcing from asian countries or being a outsourcing provider makes business sense.

In fact many companies in India have reached a point where they are subcontracting work to countries like China. The crux of the outsourcing issue, besides the fact that its cost-efffective, is that, quality should be top class. Once an outsourcing deal is signed, quality of service is the bottomline.

The outsourcing business process market is far from saturated and is a large playground. Russia is jumping on this bandwagon and competing with the best to offer offshore outsourcing solutions. The only hinderance to their outsourcing plans are bad perceptions about Russia and lack of trust on the quality of services they can provide.

If Russia has to compete with likes of India, it will have to go a long way in improving its PR skills and getting the best deals in the dynamic Call Center Services and outsourcing market.

As the number of articles on outsourcing backlash and BPO bust have increased, many industry analysts have started researching trends and the future of this industry. They realised that the outsourcing is not just improving but moving beyond application-related services to outsourcing business processes, call center offshore services and infrastructure services.

Frost and Sullivan claim the outsourcing business process to garner a revenue of $22 billion with projections of $25.7 billion by 2009. Most analysts are bullish on India with steep projections and a condusive market for growth.

It will take many years for the outsourcing market to reach saturation. Industry sources say that the chances for anything untoward to happen are low. For the outsourcing industry to saturate, it will take not just a take a deflation and unemployment in the US, something worse, like legislation against outsourcing by the US Government could be the worst thing to happen to the outsourcing industry.

Finally, it will depend on the US administration and the next US elections whether making 'outsourcing' an election issue is profitable. It will be a tragedy if it does become an issue, it will not only get international attention but could cause a lot more bad publicity for such an exciting market. The US government would prefer that the issue does not flare up as many businesses in the US are profiting by outsourcing from countries like India, Philippines and besides other south asian countries.

At the moment, it is just a sectoral minority that has taken the outsourcing issue to the papers. Their issues are as valid as that of the companies running BPO outfits in Asia. After all, some Americans have lost jobs due to the outsourcing hype. Yet, the backlash is still in a minority. But if the US administration does nothing about its economy, it could become a major issue in no time. It was just some time back that the German people took to the streets to protest against Indian programmers who had supposed 'taken' their jobs.

We can only hope that everyone involved will 'send the appropriate signals' to all people who will be affected by the outsourcing industry.

Outsourcing your business process- New techniques and business models
In the global economy, as the world becomes a closely connected village, it is feasible for companies to hire the best resources in knowledge and competence. There are fewer boundaries that can hold back businesses from expanding into new areas. It finally depends on your skill and risk management capabilities if you can exploit this opportunity.

One way of risk management in such diverse markets is to use an effective blended business model of internal and outsourced call center resources across domestic, nearshore and offshore locations. You can make the most of every penny ya got by outsourcing to the right locations, cost, skill and efficiency-wise. Sourcing to internal call centerscan help you control critical operations.

What a business needs is operational flexibility and control. If you are opting for critical services from across the globe it can have practical difficulties, more psychological than real. With the cost factor under consideration, a financial services firm might have such an outsourcing set up.

- A JV for a technical help desk in India with round-the-clock support- outsourcing specific technical skills.
- Outsourcing a third-shift Tier 1 customer service operation in the Philippines
- Outsourcing internal check processing and Tier 2 customer service to Canada.

Blending global operations to your needs, economic compulsions and organisation can be achieved in a number of ways.

Outsourcing business with Offshore direct-- In an emerging market, you can join hands with a outsourcing business process provider and grow together. This could increase your cost savings and speed of growth. The downside is that this needs a deeper understanding of economic and political trends.

Outsourcing with a true value-added intermediary-- You can establish a “transparent” offshore outsourcing operation by leveraging the global delivery capabilities of a large multinational outsourcer.

Outsourcing with a Joint venture-- Form a formal business partnership with selected outsourcers, systems integration firms and in-country strategic firms, with adequate profit sharing clauses. A build, manage and profit share could work wonders for your business.

Outsourcing with a Build-operate-transfer back venture-- You can also turn to outside entities to establish a global contact center site. On successful operations, you can transfer operation back to in-house management.

When it comes to finance, businesses find a wide range of finance options to sustain their projects. Global finance firms have over the years mastered the fine art of global delivery models to optimize business.

It is the need of the hour to create better and cheaper business models for your business process outsourcing project.

Outsourcing your business process - Selecting the perfect service provider for you!

Outsourcing has often been viewed skeptically for reasons as varied as, lack of focus and concentration by the outsourcing provider. In view of this general skepticism it is very important to scrutinize the vendor, before building a relationship and sharing vital business information.

As you select the outsourcing service provider for your business, you will get plenty of advice. You have to make sure that the service provider has experience in handling the type of projects you have with a credible reputation. Performance speaks for itself! You must select a flexible organisation with a technology sensitive mindset. It must not only have financial stability but also a robust and flexible business model.

Finally, the outsourcing business or any business for that matter works on trust. Check its security policies and future business plans and make sure you get the best quality and standards in outsourcing your business process!

Outsourcing Business process- breaking news!

Bamboo, a Hong Kong-based company that operates an offshore development center in Guangzhou, believes China is ready to compete with India in the outsourcing business process market.

At the vendor exhibit hall of Gartner Inc.'s outsourcing conference, Bamboo Networks stood out. It's the first China-based business process outsourcing operation to set up a booth at a U.S. outsourcing conference.

In the highly competitive outsourcing business process market, Bamboo Networks sees a many more companies vying for quality and cost reduction. Many believe that outsourcing will become a mainstream business, with more than 80% of U.S. companies having discussed offshore outsourcing and 40% having completed some kind of pilot program.

Long live the Outsourcing business process industry!

Coming Tomorrow...Outsourcing as a business model!

Outsourcing backlash, how real is it?

"Nothing sells like bad news!". The first news of some people losing jobs because of the offshore outsourcing industry was splashed across the business pages to create the initial fear. Many groups in the US started taking cognizance of the fact that Americans could lose jobs due to the offshore outsourcing industry.

"Outsourcing saves money but that is not the only criterion for outsourcing your business process" - say most outsourcing industry honchos on this subject. Most of them claim that after a deal is signed its "quality" that matters and the moment the outsourcing provider is found wanting on the quality front, he will lose the edge in this highly competitive industry.

In the end, business reality makes cost cutting and maintenance of quality services, the prime objective of any industry and more so for the outsourcing industry where margins are low and players are many.

Most eminent people say that the present backlash to the outsourcing business process industry is concentrated in small pockets. Not many are really affected they say. It has not become an electoral level subject,yet, where it can cause people to worry. But the problem cannot just be ignored either. CNN and other major channels have featured this issue in the prime time talk shows. This surely gives plenty of people food for thought! After all the livelihood of many people and the industry itself depends on it!

Outsourcing business processes is turning many businesses around and increasing the profit margins of many more. Today we shall go into outsourcing one of your business processes- your HR department.

Traditionally, the HR department has never been a profit center. Only recently have companies realised that cutting costs and increasing margins are not the sole responsibility of manufacturing, sales and marketing. The HR department has to contribute to the company's bottom line. Many companies have found outsourcing their HR business process a profitable strategic decision.

Right from payroll, benefits, education, training, recruiting, personnel administration, to organizational development and work force management, the outsourcing tasks are numerous and need, more often than not need, domain expertise and mature handling skills. Technology has played an important role in making this endeavor a mega success for companies that have used outsourcing strategically.

Why outsource your HR business process?

It not only streamlines your company's business process but also makes the entire system more transparent. Companies which found that the sanctity of information between employer and employee was being violated realised that outsourcing was an easy way out. It also made profits for the company, increased functional flexibility and synergy between departments!

Outsourcing your Business processes- HR outsourcing news ...

Indage Hotels Ltd has signed a deal with Essoteric -Diverse, a Mumbai-based HR consulting firm to function as its outsourced HR department. This nation wide arrangement is for all future projects of Indage. This deal will provide Indage the kind of HR expertise they were always hoping for without actually investing in it. With food and hospitality their core competences, Indage has found just the right win-win combination to get the best out of their business.

More news to come on Outsourcing your business process...

Notes from the business process outsourcing corner!

To outsource your business process, you need to keep an eye on maximizing the Return On Investment, while making the functionalities of your business, simpler and more effective for your client. With customer satisfaction the main objective of this strategic decision, you cannot discount the fact that the call center or BPO you outsource your business process to, screws up once in a while. A system has to be put in place to handle such crisis scenarios, which sometimes are not thought of, even by your BPO outfit. After all, its your clients that are affected. The BPO normally gets paid on performance and stands to lose if they make mistakes. To minimize such mishaps, an understanding of your business needs and a clear understanding of the targetted client profile is very important. Creating teams with domain expertise and the knowledge of your business model enhances the effect of your decision to outsource.
It's a team effort of people and telecommunications to create a win-win situation!

The Business Process Outsourcing trough!

India was the destination of one of the most unusual business process outsourcing jobs. New York parking tickets! Tough one to guess,eh! They found it cheaper to run an operation that is normally handled by the local municipal office. This is the past though! They realised that it was cheaper to outsource this job to cheaper outsouring destinations like Ghana, in this case!

Out source your business process news...
Indian Rayon has acquired a 100 % stake in Transworks for a whopping $13 million. Funded by ChrysCapital ,this AV Birla group company now gets a quick start in the BPO and call center market. transworks has delivery centres in Mumbai and Bangalore with a combined seat strength of 1,000. they have plans of adding 400 seats between the 2 centers.

More on outsourcing your business processes...

The Indian outsourcing business is predicted to increase 5-fold to $50 billion by 2008. The US political opposition to offshore outsourcing is high due to uncertainities in the world economy and laying off of jobs. With the software and service exports up 26% to $9.5 billion for the fiscal year, the business process outsourcing jumped 59% to $2.3 billion. India seems the perfect destination for business outsourcing for a long time to come with companies like Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, Cognizant, Syntel, and Ebookers going strong. Brean Murray institutional research is bullish on the current trends seen in the outsourcing business process market. This is more in lieu of the fact that its profitable to have a back office in india due to its cost savings, large english speaking population, scalability and a government policy that has recognised the potential of this sector.

With tight budgets, US companies have realised the potential to save more than a few bucks and have made outsourcing a strategic decision. In spite of the perceived risks involved in investing in India, economic compulsions will draw more companies to head for India as a business process outsourcing destination.

As bigger Indian companies make efficiency and excellent service a benchmark in the business process outsourcing market, their reputation is surely going to rub off on the smaller BPO outfits which are equally good. Mid market US companies will surely prefer to use this opportunity to outsource their business processes and back office operations to India. Heading for small towns, where infrastructure costs are low , they are going to save a lot on the capital investment in setting up such business process outsourcing outfits.

Management evolved as a scientific method of handling people, materials and resources during and after the industrial revolution. The numerous mega corporations, which surfaced during the 19th century employed thousands of people and used a heap load of resources. It was capitalism then, where no owner bothered about minimum wages for his employees till labor laws came into the picture.

When minimum wages did come into the picture, industry honchos wanted to cut costs, left, right and center. Cutting costs is one term that encompasses an entire business process in itself. It still remains one of the first principles of keeping a business afloat in trying times such as these.

Business was mainly concentrated in Europe and America till the 20th century. As the political dynamics changed so has the business environment. Information technology and dollar power has shifted the onus of the financial world on the strong shoulders of the US.

As the business environment has grown meaner with stringent business dead lines and mega projects, the need to create leaner and cost effective organizations has increased. This has prompted organizations to stick to core competencies and shift the onus of the rest to outsourcing providers and offshore call centers. It not only saves time, money, and resources but also streamlines managerial functions and keeps employee focus.

Business process outsourcing and offshore call centers have evolved over the decades from the time-sharing of the 60s, partial IT operations of the 70s, complete IT operations of the 80s, alliances and tie-ups of the 90s to the oft spoken and written about, IT enabled services of recent years.

There are numerous processes and departments that an organization has to handle like purchasing and disbursement, accounts, payroll, internal audit, billing, IT management, order entry, billing and collection, human resources administration, cash and investment management, tax compliance, business process etc. The best suggestion they got from consultants was to ‘outsource business processes’. Many companies found that it could be cheaper to start an offshore outsourcing operation in India and streamline their business.

Essentially, companies need a back office, which would be cheaper than if they ran the entire gizmo of business themselves. Most small companies are more interested in cutting costs, streamlining processes, saving time and reducing hiring costs besides getting rid of infrastructure hassles. For example, Telegenisys Pvt. Ltd. forged an alliance with hotelquest.com, an international hotel room reservation consolidator for its business processing operations and customer care services. Both have profited from this deal in terms of revenues and time-spend.

Larger companies are more interested in increased efficiencies and flexibility. In most cases, a company would enter into a business process outsourcing alliance as a strategic decision. Dell, Sun Microsystems, LG, Ford, GE, Oracle and numerous others have extended their business process operations started offshore call centers in India.

Over the last few decades, India has not just increased its population but also become a technological and educational hub of Asia. Now, most urban and semi-urban children in India get an English based education. There are more English speaking graduates in India than ever before. India has now become one of the largest cost effective pool of English speaking IT professionals, scientists and technical talent.
A boon for the call center and business process outsourcing industry!